IDF Spokesman preparing his unit for next war

"Swiftness of response will be our main challenge," Brig.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai says.

IDF spokesman Yoav Mordechai 370.
(photo credit:IDF)

The IDF Spokesman’s Office is preparing for the next war, in which the swiftness
of its response will be key, Brig.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai, the IDF Spokesman,
says.

Speaking to the Globes Business Conference in Tel Aviv earlier this
week, Mordechai said his unit was in the midst of preparing for a future war
that will likely be more complex than the recent conflict with
Hamas.

“We’re not patting ourselves on the back from the last operation,”
he said, referring to November’s Operation Pillar of
Defense.

“Militarily, we understand that this was a time-limited
operation,” he said. “We made mistakes – and where we err, we correct
ourselves.”

Mordechai also addressed his unit’s efforts to reach out to
Arabic speakers.

“We operate an Arabic website, but it is hard to be
interviewed by Al Jazeera,” he related.

“They put up background images of
children who’ve been killed, and you know that it’s actually from Syria or a
previous war. We discovered that when we tell the local residents in Arabic what
we are doing, we receive a high score in terms of our credibility relative to
the Arabic media. It is important for us to explain that we’re not fighting the
people, but Hamas.”

Mordechai said he expected the next conflict to be
more complex, not only for his unit but for the military as a
whole.

“Since the conflict changes, the challenge becomes much larger. We
understood that we don’t have a victory image in Pillar of Defense. That was the
mistake of the Second Lebanon War. We wanted a victory image in Bint Jbail, and
everything became embroiled,” he said, referring to the south Lebanese town that
was the scene of heavy house-to-house fighting with Hezbollah in
2006.

Mordechai said Lebanon was likely the main future front, adding
that the West Bank was also a potential front.

“My ability to explain war
in Pillar of Defense was easier. There was legitimacy,” he said. “But
it’s clear to me that if the air force had missed and there were many civilian
casualties, the challenge would have been greater. This has happened already, in
the Second Lebanon War and Operation Cast Lead [in the winter of
2008/2009].”

In recent months the IDF has held several war drills based
on the scenario of a sudden eruption of conflict on multiple fronts. The drills
included the rapid deployment of infantry, armored vehicles and artillery units
from the center of the country to the North and South.